Surprise Party
The Surprise Party, or SP, is a major party in the Darnussia, which governed Darnussia from the mid 2600s nearly continuously into the mid 2700s. History Origins The party was formed at the Imperial University of Ghacrow (now known as Ghacrow University) in the wake of the nuclear civil war that rocked the nation, and the subsequent revolutionary government that emerged, overthowing the last shreds of the nation's monarchy and replacing it with a quasi-Communist system. The group, first called "Right to Party," organized in protest against both the monarchists and the communists, who dominated the government of the day. After extensive organization, and having several of their proposals actually heard before the revolutionary government, introduced by moderates of both factions, the Right to Party scored a shocking 9% of the legislature (with all but one member being from Clenon) in its first election, in 2644, and its Presidential candidate, Franz Fernidad, garnered 12% of the national vote, despite campaigning while wearing a scuba mask and false vampire teeth. Reporters dubbed the new self-mocking party the "Surprise Party," a name which stuck to the current day. Later analysis showed that all but one representative (Franz Fernidad himself, who was from Red Stad and won a riding there) were either Clenese or were Alkavani workers in Clenon, and were frustrated beyond words with the governmental response to the disaster in that province. A mere two years after their first election, the Surprise Party had won the Presidency of Darnussia for the first time, and was considered a mainstream major party, with members in every Darnussian province, although the party remained strongest in Clenon (a province it won outright for the first time in 2646, and failed to carry only twice in the subsequent century) Alliance with PCU (2650s to 2690s) Post-revolutionary Darnussia aligned itself with three to five major parties, with the Surprise Party occupying a generally conservative but anti-dictatorial position within the electorate. The Oink Oink Party (OOP), which occupied the far-right, was the primary electoral challenge, Darnussian politics always having tended towards the conservative end of the spectrum. A so-called corrupt bargain emerged between the Surprise Party and the Peoples Choice Union (PCU) to govern Darnussia, a coalition which lasted four decades more or less, as the SP moved to align with the center-left to shut the OOP out of the cabinet and promote rebuilding of the shattered nation. Under the arrangement, the two parties agreed that whichever party controlled the Presidency would allow the other to hold the position of Prime Ministership, with other positions divvied up according largely to a pre-negotiated system. In the rare occasions when neither the SP nor the PCU held the Presidency, the larger party in the House of Delegates would hold the Prime Ministership, with the lesser partner receiving a greater share of the cabinet posts than ordinary, to ensure the two parties were roughly equal partners in governance. The Alliance, although criticized as anti-Democratic by opposition parties, helped ensure governmental stability, and solidified the SP as the preeminent right-wing party of Darnussia, and the PCU as the preeminent left-wing party, allowing both to achieve their major legislative aims. Counter-New World Order operations The SP-PCU coalition stood strongly against both the New World Order and the rival Kennedy factions in international affairs, throughout the late 2600s. The opposition parties in Darnussia largely supported these efforts, as well, leading to both military and international relations reform in the nation, as it prepared to intervene to support international allies prior to the collapse of the two rival factions. In particular, Darnussian law made it illegal for any political party to mobilize an armed militia, and the power to initiate military actions was granted to the President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense, with the House of Delegates reserving a veto right. In Opposition (2690s) The Surprise Party briefly found itself in opposition, as the PCU looked leftward for a coalition government, finding itself the power-broker in the House of Delegates in a role reversal. This brief era of being in opposition, rather than shattering the Surprise Party's resolve, only solidified it, as it showed its willingness to cooperate with the pan-left coalition, even as it opposed it ideologically. Nevertheless, PCU found itself in an untenable position electorally - it had moved rightward to become the power-broker, but found itself dragged left by its coalition partners, and found the Surprise Party relatively unwilling to return to government after the Alliance had fallen apart; indeed, the SP leadership felt strongly that being in opposition, and letting the Left pass its laws at will, would only demonstrate to the electorate who was really on their side. As events turned out, this brief period in opposition led directly to over a decade of single-party rule by the SP. Single-Party Rule (2700s to 2720s) In the early 2700s, the various left-wing factions of Darnussian politics briefly collapsed, leaving the Darnussian Social-Democratic Party (now the Darnussian Marxist Party) as the sole opposition party, and giving the Surprise Party an outright legislative majority. The two-party rule era was relatively brief, but it allowed the Surprise Party virtual free-reign to govern alone, and brought new blood into the party, as many former PCU members joined the SP after the PCU's collapse. The new wing also brought about an SP internal shift, as Danielle Dogwood defeated Robert Redwood in the party leadership struggle of the late 2710s. Return of Multi-Party rule (2720s to 2741) The elections of 2717 resulted in a political tremor in two major ways. The first was the transition from Seven-term President Bob Birch, to new party chairwoman Danielle Dogwood, who took the reigns of power for the first time as President. The second was the emergence of new parties to the left and the right, as the Darnussian Nationalist Party (DNP) became the nation's far-right party, and the left split into various new factions. The DSDP rebranded itself as the Marxist Party, signaling a move further-left, and appears to have been the left-wing survivor; it later became the Darnussian Justice Party (DJP), although additional challenges are possible. On the right, the SP has effectively branded the DNP too-dangerous-to-govern, owing to the latter's membership in Nova Terra, and neo-fascist ideology. The Surprise Party had announced that it would endorse the Darnussian Justice Party as the lesser of two evils, in the event that it failed to make a Presidential runoff. In 2741, the party made good on that pledge, when President Dogwood finished an embarrassing third in the Presidential contest. The endorsement was anti-ideological, in that the DNP was far closer in overall political positions than the DJP - to the point that surveys showed two-thirds of the rank and file ignored the endorsement, and backed the right-wing DNP candidate, rather than vote for a socialist. Still, the endorsement probably held the balance of power, as the DJP took the Presidency for the first time. In the 2741 elections, the SP paid the price for cooperation with the DJP over the previous decades, as voters rebelled against the faux conservatism that had dominated the Dogwood era. A new turn rightward (2741 to present) In mid 2741, Dogwood's political career ended for good, when Emma Evergreen, formerly the nation's Defense Minister, ousted Dogwood as the Chairman of the party, and pledged to rebuild the party on a new conservatism. While the party would still support the left over the DNP on cabinet issues, it would no longer enter compromises on its values. Election history Starting in 2644, the Surprise Party became the Darnussian ruling party in an exceptionally short time, achieving a hegemonic latter half of the 27th and first half of the 28th Century. During its first century (2644 to 2741); * Five Surprise Party Presidents have combined to govern the nation for approximately 80 years (87%) * The Surprise Party has been the largest single party in the Legislature continuously since 2668, and for all but twelve years since it seated its first member (87%) * In the 21 elections starting in 2644 and ending in 2741 (inclusive), the party has held ** Clenon Province 18 of 22 times, including 13 in a row ** Alkavon Province 15 times ** Nihaton Province 13 times ** Narikaton Province 9 times ** Kozaria Province 6 times * The Surprise Party, since its formation, is the only party in Darnussia to have; ** Held an outright majority of the legislature - a feat it has achieved four times, and narrowly missed once by a single vote. ** Swept the map, winning the largest plurality in every province - a feat it has achieved three times, and narrowly missed two other times National Summary Notes: # In the mid 2650s, the Legislature became the House of Delegates, and was expanded from 301 seats to 599. # Between 2703 and 2707, the PCU-led governing coalition suffered from severe internal strife; PCU attempted to switch to a PCU-SP coalition, which was refused. PCU then collapsed, resulting in a government collapse. The SP was in opposition during this period, but was the de-facto governing party without portfolio. # The Darnussian Marxist Party became the Darnussian Justice Party between 2727 and 2732. The governing coalition remained. # The 2741 legislature was composed of the DJP and LDP in coalition. The coalition was a plurality government that ruled with the tacit support of the SP, to block out the Nova Terra backed DNP, in a three-way split legislature. Legislative results by Province Party Chairman History Traditionally, the party has been chaired by the Presidential candidate, win or lose. Often, after a loss, a new candidate would take over the party, and chair the party whether they won or lost the Presidency, until replaced. In 2697, President Birch decided it was time to delegate the duty of running the party to someone else, and handed the reigns to Prime Minister (then Opposition Leader) Robert Redwood. In 2716, after President Birch announced he would not seek a seventh term as President, Danielle Dogwood (daughter of former President David Dogwood) sought and won the Chairmanship of the party, and the position as its Presidential candidate in 2717. After the embarrassing losses in 2741, Emma Evergreen overthrew Dogwood, pledging a new turn to the right and to rebuild the party in the eyes of the nation's voters. * 2638 to 2655: Franz Fernidad * 2655 to 2666: Ann Arboreal * 2666 to 2675: David Dogwood * 2675 to 2697: Bob Birch * 2697 to 2716: Robert Redwood * 2716 to 2741: Danielle Dogwood * 2741 to pres: Emma Evergreen Category:Political parties in Narikaton and Darnussia